The Collapse of the Imperial German Army occurred in the latter half of 1918 and led to the

German Revolution of 1918–1919 The German Revolution or November Revolution (german: Novemberrevolution) was a civil conflict in the German Empire at the end of the First World War that resulted in the replacement of the German federal constitutional monarchy with a dem ...

, the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

and the eventual end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

following the signing of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

. Dissatisfaction, desertions, mass surrenders and mutinies had spread amongst the Imperial Germany Army following the defeat of the Spring Offensive. However it was only with the

Kiel mutiny The Kiel mutiny () was a major revolt by sailors of the German High Seas Fleet on 3 November 1918. The revolt triggered the German revolution which was to sweep aside the monarchy within a few days. It ultimately led to the end of the German ...

that a more determined initiative towards revolution emerged. As the war drew on, the major belligerent countries all experienced increasing opposition to the war. In Russia, this culminated in the

abdication of Nicholas II Abdication of Nicholas II (russian: Отречение Николая II) was a manifesto of the Emperor Nicholas II, signed in Pskov on 2 March ( O.S.) / 15 March ( N.S.) 1917, in the midst of World War I and the February Revolution. The Em ...

in the

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...

, the French losses of the

Nivelle Offensive The Nivelle offensive (16 April – 9 May 1917) was a Franco-British operation on the Western Front in the First World War which was named after General Robert Nivelle, the commander-in-chief of the French metropolitan armies, who led the offens ...

led to numerous mutinies, and the British experienced problems with the

Étaples mutiny The Étaples mutiny was a series of mutinies in September 1917 by British Army and British Imperial soldiers at a training camp in the coastal port of Étaples in Northern France during World War I. Background Before the war, Étaples, south ...

. However the German

Supreme Army Command The ''Oberste Heeresleitung'' (, Supreme Army Command or OHL) was the highest echelon of command of the army (''Heer'') of the German Empire. In the latter part of World War I, the Third OHL assumed dictatorial powers and became the ''de facto'' ...

(OHL) fuelled the discontent in their army by conscripting workers who were already against the war. At the beginning of 1918 almost 1,000,000 munition workers struck; one demand was peace without annexations. ''OHL'' ordered that all strikers fit to bear arms' be sent to the front". The German military archivist Erich Otto Volkmann estimated that in the spring of 1918 about 800,000 to 1,000,000 soldiers refused to follow the orders of their military superiors. The term "Drückeberger", or shirker, was the term used by the military authorities, a term which had already gained anti-semitic connotations through its previous use in German military propaganda. The German historian

Wilhelm Deist __NOTOC__ Wilhelm Deist (1931–2003) was a German historian and author who specialised in the European history of 19th and 20th with an emphasis on the history of World War I. Deist was senior historian at the Military History Research Office ( ...

has argued that politically motivated militants had organised a ''verdeckter Militärstreik'' or hidden army strike. Following the success of imposing the

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace, separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russian SFSR, Russia and the Central Powers (German Empire, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Kingdom of ...

on the Bolshevik regime, General

Erich Ludendorff Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff (9 April 1865 – 20 December 1937) was a German general, politician and military theorist. He achieved fame during World War I for his central role in the German victories at Liège and Tannenberg in 1914. ...

launched the Spring Offensive of 1918 in an attempt to win the war on the Western Front before significant numbers of American troops could be involved. Despite initial successes, the offensive ground to a halt and soon the Allied

Hundred Days Offensive The Hundred Days Offensive (8 August to 11 November 1918) was a series of massive Allies of World War I, Allied offensives that ended the First World War. Beginning with the Battle of Amiens (1918), Battle of Amiens (8–12 August) on the Wester ...

was being organised. As American troops started to arrive at the front lines, German morale plummeted and dissatisfied soldiers increasingly disregarded their officers. In the Battle of Amiens, a large number of German soldiers surrendered, leading Ludendorff to call the first day of the battle the "black day of the German Army". Ludendorff noted instances of retreating troops shouting "You're prolonging the war!" at officers who tried to rally them and " Blackleg!" at reserve troops who moved up to the front lines.

References

{{reflist Military history of Germany 1918 in Germany 1918 in Belgium 1918 in France Military discipline and World War I German Revolution of 1918–1919

See also

References